v. t. | 1. | To draw back; to draw up or shorten; |
2. | To withdraw; to recall; to disavow; to recant; to take back; | |
3. | To take back,, as a grant or favor previously bestowed; to revoke. | |
v. i. | 1. | To draw back; to draw up; |
2. | To take back what has been said; to withdraw a concession or a declaration. | |
n. | 1. | (Far.) The pricking of a horse's foot in nailing on a shoe. |
Verb | 1. | retract - formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure; "He retracted his earlier statements about his religion"; "She abjured her beliefs" |
2. | retract - pull away from a source of disgust or fear Synonyms: shrink back | |
3. | retract - use a surgical instrument to hold open (the edges of a wound or an organ) | |
4. | retract - pull inward or towards a center; "The pilot drew in the landing gear"; "The cat retracted his claws" Synonyms: draw in |
TO RETRACT. To withdraw a proposition or offer before it has been accepted.
2. This the party making it has a right to do is long as it has not
been accepted; for no principle of law or equity can, under these
circumstances, require him to persevere in it.
3. The retraction may be express, as when notice is given that the
offer is withdrawn; or, tacit as by the death of the offering party, or his
inability to complete the contract; for then the consent of one of the
parties has been destroyed, before the other has acquired any existence;
there can therefore be no agreement. 16 Toull. 55.
4. After pleading guilty, a defendant will, in certain cases where he
has entered that plea by mistake or in consequence of some error, be allowed
to retract it. But where a prisoner pleaded guilty to a charge of larceny,
and sentence has been passed upon him, he will not be allowed to retract his
plea, and plead not guilty. 9 C. & P. 346; S. C. 38 E. C. L. R. 146; Dig.
12, 4, 5.